5.28.2008

I did want to post an article about the Lorwyn kinship mechanic and the subsequent evolution or rather devolution in Shadowmoor but Wizards ruined that by posting booster packaging for the upcoming Eventide set.

Lets have a look . . .We see here, two new images and one previously leaked. The booster image on the left almost appears to be an odd amphibious Kithkin . . or perhaps not - we will just let our imagination run amok until the formal spoilers come out.

As for the center image, the mount is almost certainly a cervin - the deer-like creature the Elves favour for patrolling their havens. Finally, the image on the right is the odd-looking owl lady with a nasty case of acid-reflux.

The booster case . .Another image already leaked via Diamond Previews. As previously discussed, it bears a very slight similarity to the Glen Elendra Leige. The mount is a wasp instead of a yellow-jacket and this is no ordinary Fae riding the winged critter.

Whatever the new spells and creatures the Eventide set will hold for players, we can all be sure that there will be no return to the peaceful idyllic world of Lorwyn.

5.20.2008

If you have been watching the forums, you may have picked up on some of the images of the new Eventide Ultra.Pro products. Since every Magic Player (yeah . . . myself included), I know loves to speculate on creatures and themes of each new set, lets have a look and the images leaked.

Eventide Sleves and Side-load Deck Box

Interesting stuff here - We see a Kithkin soldier / cleric doing their stuff BUT the image of the Cinder (formerly Flamekin) appears rather odd . . . this sort of image lends a bit to the argument of enemy-hybrid colours appearing in Shadowmoor.

Four-Card FoliosThese card folios not only allows a handy binder for showing off your best / exotic cards, they also contain some very nice art. The top left image appears to be similar to the Glen Elendra Leige BUT this Faerie does not appear to have any wings . . . whoa. The rest looks like the standard fare critters we know - a Fae, and two Cinders. Perhaps the bottom two are simply sorceries.

Nine-Card FoliosAgain with the odd-looking fae on the left folio's top left. The creature on the center of the folio appears to have faerie wings. The two critters on the bottom look like elementals who I will name 'Footsie' and 'Mouth'.On the top of the right folio, it appears to be yet another fae but this time riding a big moth. As for the bottom, I have still not yet come to any conclusion although there seems to be something similar to Beseech the Queen about it but just corporeal.

Play MatSpeaking of similar imagery, the lovely-looking goblin on this play-mat appears to be sisters with the two gals from Disturbing Plot.

Thats a wrap for now but I have a feeling much more juicy Eventide stuff will be landing on these pages fairly soon.

5.19.2008

Every Magic player eventually encounters this enviable problem . . . card storage - Where to organise and store your cards when not in use beating someone with them.

A quick look around my home shows a variety of card storage solutions that my wife and my kids have employed . . .My two older kids (MTG and Pokemon) typically keep their cards in containers or binders. My daughter (the youngest who is collecting Bella Sara), stores her cards with her play jewelry.

Not having a lot of extra money for a professional card storage container, I have even caught myself sizing up an old fishing tackle box I found in the garage . . . pathetic actually (not to mention the smell of dessicated fishing bait).

In the image above, you can see my oldest kid's binder and his two ion deck boxes. My wife also has an ion case with the remaining two colours being claimed as my own. These deck cases are typically the only thing I feel comfortable taking to FNM without putting myself at risk of being teased by someone a quarter of my age.

My wife also has an interesting plastic container which formerly held retractable reel clips for card-lock keys / name badges. I had something similar which once held 3" wood screws but overuse and abuse forced me to retire it.

I purchased a cardboard card storage box capable to holding 500 un-sleeved cards but had decided to pimp it by gluing chaff cards identifying cards from which sets (Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor - and eventually Eventide) the box contains . . . very nice.

We also try to obtain boxes or containers which may had at one time contained Magic cards such as booster display boxes or tournament decks. I even have a fairly handy container which formerly held 3 1/2 " diskettes (that's floppy high tech boils & ghouls ! !). I find the diskette box ideal for holding my deck AND sideboard as well as my dice. When opened on the table it also provides a very kewl tray for all my dice.

Speaking of dice, you may be able to see my wife's micro-dice purchased back in the heady days when all those crazy +1/+1 counters were pumping up your Lorwyn-block critters.

You may also note the odd black & white bingo-chip thingys in the fore-ground as well. To be able to distinguish between a +1/+1 (Lorwyn-block) counter and a -1/-1 (Shadowmoor-block) wither counter, I raided an old Othello game I found in the basement . . . I throw a chip white-side up for a positive counter and black-side down for a negative counter . . . just brilliant ! The spouse informs me that however brilliant that idea may have been, she is less than pleased that it was at the expense of the Othello game.Who knew how resourceful one could be in the the issues of card storage.

5.07.2008

We should start seeing some leaks for the next Eventide set soon. The expected release date for this second (and last) set in Shadowmoor is July 25, 2008.

Here is what we know so far . . .

As the shadows lengthen, even more bizarre creatures slink out of Shadowmoor's gloom! The second and final set in the Shadowmoor block, Eventide expands on the popular 'Hybrid Mana Cost' mechanic, and introduces new mechanics that compliment the themes originally introduced in Shadowmoor.

This black-bordered, 180-card expansion is introduced in five unique, 60-card theme decks offered in 12-count displays, 15-card boosters packed in 36-count displays, and Fat Packs containing eight boosters, one lifecounter, one player's guide, a 40-card land pack, one pro-player card, and a card box.Eventide is the second and final set in the Shadowmoor block The setting for Eventide is the dark world of Shadowmoor, with even more twisted and bizarre creatures than before.Eventide expands on the popular “Hybrid Mana Cost” mechanic, and introduces new mechanics that compliment the themes introduced in Shadowmoor.

I have been reading some Eventide speculations floating around the web regarding the possible use 'enemy hybrid' in this new set. If true, players can expect to see the following colour pairings in hybrid cards -> White/Black, Blue/Red, Black/Green, Red/White and Green/Blue.

This speculation seems to be a titch far-fetched given the limited number of cards within the Shadowmoor mini-block but then perhaps lead-designed Mark Rosewater is trying to tell us something ? ?

One sure bet is to expect a lot more -1/-1 counters flying across the table.

5.05.2008

On Saturday, I attended the Shadowmoor release party at my local gaming store (OMG! Games in Barrie). Even though I went 2-4, I reminded myself that I won half the games, instead of thinking negatively . . . that I lost half the games.

The tournament format was 'sealed deck' in which players received one sealed deck of 75 random cards consisting of 45 game cards and 30 basic lands. Also provided was two Shadowmoor Booster packs which include 15 random cards.

My first thoughts as I looked at my mess 'o' cards was just how easy it was to pull together a deck of 40 cards with the new hybrid cards. (Hybrid is a type of mana which can be paid with either or a combination of two different mana colours. It's symbol looks a bit like a half pie such as this - ).I also rather enjoyed the new mechanics of conspire , wither, and persist. Fortunately, I did not get caught off guard with the new untap or 'Q' mechanic . . . I remember Devin Low from WoTC running a poll in which roughly 3 out of 4 players indicated that they anticipated walking into the untap trap.One new Shadowmoor card I do want to mention which saved my MTG butt on more than one occasion during the Release Event's sealed deck tournament is Incremental Blight. This is the polar opposite of Lorwyn's Incremental Growth.

The players were reasonably familiar with the new mechanics and there were surprisingly few calls for the Judge. The Judge (Mr. Robert Johnson of OMG! Games) - did a bang-up fantabulous job of resolving any minor issues players did have . . . and no - - Rob did not pay me to say this.

I initially played a black-red-green deck but after losing the second game, switched horses mid-stream and modified it to fit in some control cards which came out blue-black-red.

Anywho - I am fairly enthusiastic about studying the cards I did get and working them into either some of my existing Lorwyn-block decks (I have two Merfolk decks, a Kithkin deck and a Boggart deck) or just simply building a new black-red-green beat-down aggro deck from the new cards.

Some cards I did immediately include into an existing Merfolk-milling deck I have is Oona, Queen of the Fae (of course), Memory Sluice, Drowner Initiate, and Hollowsage.

These cards will find a good home beside Jace and bunch of very tap-happy milling Merfolk.